Grow Up to Own Your Graces – My Life Reflection

I am a teacher, leader, and motivator. Was I born to be these things? To know my childhood and early adult experiences, the answer would be a resounding NO.

Back then I was a lost, moody, and self-absorbed kid who didn’t understand why things happened to her the way they did. What made things more difficult were my manic moods. For the most part, I remember my days to be a constant state of loneliness, depression, with fleeting bursts of happiness. I started to seek counseling at the age of 16 and connected with my first spiritual mentor at 18.

Since then, for over 20 years I have walked the path of my own hero’s journey and like any good heroine-adventure story, it starts out with a lost girl who doesn’t know who she really is.

She doesn’t know where she came from. She has no clue where she’s going. All she has is a longing for something deeper and more meaningful to hold in her life. She clings to this hope for a better and fulfilling future like a life-boat.

With small decisions, big let downs, kind teaching of others, learning from mistakes, and baby steps all the way, I discovered who I really was and uncovered my graces — the powers I always had to create the life I wanted, but never used.

Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz had her ruby slippers—the key to her salvation—since the beginning of her journey. Yet this knowledge, though upon her, she could not fathom. She had to pass through her life adventures – her growth and understanding to ultimately figure this out. This plot is familiar to all hero stories because it is absolutely necessary. We all have to go through our growing-pains to realize our greatest gifts.

Along the way, like Dorothy, we meet up with people who help us with our quest. Whether it is direct guidance from a knowing mentor or the observation of another friend’s dilemma, we are affected and changed for the better from these experiences.

It’s not one thing that decides our fate. It’s the constant choosing of doing small things that determine our direction and outcome.

5 things I’ve learned from my journey:

1. You steer your destiny by what you think and do. Once you’re conscious of this—it’s never too late—to think and act differently so you can move towards a life you truly want.

2. Don’t be happy “someday.” Love and accept where you are today as happiness is not a destination, it’s a state of being that can be yours now.

3. You must have dreams because they are the visions that motivate your journey.